Who can have a plant-based blog for over a year without having a delicious bean burger recipe? Apparently, I can.

It’s not that I’ve never made bean burgers before. It’s just that none have been so amazing that I had to share them.

Until now.

Cue my latest recipe: Vegan Mushroom and Pinto Bean Burgers.

These bean burgers are my favorite out of all of the bean burgers I’ve had so far. Sure, these beetroot and kidney bean burgers looked amazing:

But I never developed a recipe. And I never actually got the chance to try them as Rob was the one who made and ate them.

It’s not just a bean burger

I just discovered that the burger needs some back up. I usually like to keep my meals simple. So when I make burgers, I treat them more like rissoles. I eat them with a little sauce. No bun, no lettuce, none of the fancy stuff. Sometimes I don’t even have a sauce.

When I made these Mushroom and Pinto Bean Burgers, I went all the way. I made a bun. I made a special sauce. I added lettuce.

And those small touches made a huge difference.

Yes, these bean burgers are the best burgers by themselves. Yet in order to get the real burger experience, you need to extra stuff.

The bun

But I love sourdough. I much prefer sourdough over regular yeasted breads. And buying expensive whole wheat buns that are actually healthy is too expensive. And buying buns requires planning.

So I was satisfied with an open-faced burger on a piece of roti.

I picked out a roti dough that I had fermented with methi (fenugreek). The bun itself added flavor, satisfaction and flavor to the burger. The sourdough amped the flavor and the healthfulness. The menthi added on top of the flavor even more to give a bun that was multidimensional.

In short, I recommend a bun. Whatever whole wheat but you have on hand will do, but I really loved my methi-infused sourdough roti bun with my burger.

The sauce

Next is the sauce.

Since bean burgers tend to have a lot less fat than traditional burgers, I find that sauce is necessary. The fat meat tends to give a juiciness to regular burger patties that I haven’t been able to mimic with a low-fat burger recipe.

Rob and I still needed to eat our flax for the day. We do our best to add one tablespoon of ground flax every day to boost our omega-3’s.

Rob said to just make a sauce with ground flax and water. That didn’t appeal to me so I decided to jazz it up a bit.

I began by adding a small bunch of fresh cilantro from our refrigerator. We love fresh cilantro for it’s amazing flavor and health benefits.

Then I added other herbs from our kitchen cabinet: dried basil and parsley. I know cumin makes the flavors of herbs shine so I added a touch of that as well.

Black pepper and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar rounded off the sauce. This concoction came to be known as Cilantro Omega-3 Pesto. You can find the exact recipe below the Vegan Mushroom and Pinto Bean Burgers recipe.

The extras

Last component: the extras.

We didn’t add many other toppings to our burger. It didn’t need much else. It had heartiness, moisture, and plenty of flavor. We didn’t have much else to add to it either.

I was saving the fresh tomatoes we had for our breakfast quiche. So I didn’t slice those up.

Instead, I took a few leaves from the head of red leaf lettuce in our fridge. The color went beautifully with the other components. The lettuce also added a crisp, satisfying crunch to the burger. Plus a freshness that help balance out the main cooked components of the dish: the bun and the burger.

Recipe

Finally! A bean burger recipe that doesn’t call for soy, nut, seeds or a ton of fat. Mushrooms provide an irreplaceable heartiness and carrots add nutrition. Make a few batches then keep uneaten ones in the freezer for a quick meal.

Preparation

Add the carrot to a food processor and blend until it’s very fine. Add the mushrooms and do the same to them.

Add 2 cups of beans, the flour and the spices to the food processor. Process until it’s mostly smooth. Depending upon how big your food processor is, it can take anywhere from 4-7 minutes (or more).

Transfer the mixture in the food processor to a large bowl. Add the remaining beans and mix the two together until homogenous. Form 8 bean burgers. Refrigerate until needed.

When ready, cook the burgers according to the cooking times below. I’ve tried cooking bean burgers all three ways and I prefer grilling the most. The oven is my second choice when a grill isn’t available.

Enjoy!

Cooking times

BBQ/Grill: 20 minutes, flipping halfway through

Fry pan: 20-30 minutes on medium-high heat, flipping halfway through

Oven: 30 minutes at 350° F (180° C), flipping halfway through

Recipe for Cilantro Omega-3 Pesto

I’m in love with the flavor of this pesto. Try it and you will be too. No need for oil. Flax provides healthy fat and health-boosting omega-3 fatty acids. If you need a way to include more omega-3’s into your diet, make this.

Vegan and free of added salt, sugar, oil, gluten, soy and nuts

Reasons to love this recipe: quick, vibrant color, high in omega-3, oil-free

Yields between 1/4-1/3 cup pesto

Ingredients:

2 tbsp flax seeds

6 tbsp water

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped

1 tbsp dry parsley

2 tsp basil

1/4 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp black pepper

Preparation

Begin by grinding the flax seeds in a blender.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the flax and blend until smooth. The sauce will thicken as it stands, so feel free to add extra water or vinegar for a thinner sauce.

Enjoy on your Vegan Mushroom and Pinto Bean Burgers or another recipe of your choice.